The AI Power Gap: Hospitality Lags Behind as Value Shifts to Tech Giants

AI is not just another tech trend; it is a tectonic shift in the global economy. Yet only approximately one in ten Dutch hospitality businesses structurally adopt AI, leaving the door wide open for external tech intermediaries to squeeze your margins and capture the guest relationship. It is time for a Reality Check. In this report by Hotelschool The Hague, you discover how to reinvest AI efficiency into a 'Human Premium' and safeguard your digital sovereignty. The future of hospitality is not a predetermined path; it is a series of strategic choices.

Go Straight to the Paper

From Automation to empathy

AI is evolving from performing repetitive tasks ('Mechanical AI') to simulating emotional intelligence ('Feeling AI'). This report explores how rapport-building is shifting to digital channels and what it means for the core of guest service.

Efficiency is the new baseline

AI-driven productivity is no longer a competitive edge; it is a 'hygiene factor'—the minimum price of admission to stay in the market. We show you how to look beyond cost-cutting to find true strategic value.

Bridging the 'AI Power Gap'

As economic value shifts toward tech giants, hotels risk being demoted to 'sleeping utilities'. Learn how to safeguard your digital sovereignty and reclaim control over your guest relationships and margins.

Five Scenarios for 2030

The future of AI is not a single path, but a series of strategic choices. We map five divergent futures—from algorithmic nightmares to worker-empowering co-pilots—to help you decide your direction today.

The 'Human Premium'

In an era of AI-generated 'slop,' authentic human connection becomes the ultimate luxury. Discover how to automate the transaction to elevate the interaction, turning human judgment into your most valuable asset.

How to make sense of the recent AI developments in the hospitality industry

The hospitality landscape has officially hit an "agentic AI" turning point where technology is redrawing the global power map. While industry giants like Expedia Group and Booking.com are locked in a high-stakes race to hire dedicated AI scientists, the ground is shifting as travelers bypass traditional websites to book hotels directly through AI chatbots. Marriott and Wyndham have already begun processing direct bookings via Google’s AI Mode, signaling a move away from traditional search engines. This "GenAI shock" is already being felt in the stock market, where the value of legacy online travel agencies (OTAs) is eroding as tech giants like Google and OpenAI take more control over the guest relationship.

We are witnessing a fundamental redistribution of economic power that risks demoting hotels to "sleeping utilities" if they do not act. The only way to truly safeguard your business is to look beyond cost-cutting and invest in the "Human Premium." As the industry moves toward 2030, the winners will be those who use AI to automate routine transactions while reclaiming authentic human connection as their ultimate competitive advantage. By claiming your digital sovereignty today, you can ensure that technology serves your business rather than replacing your staff.

Why should you read this report?

Hospitality leaders should read this report because it is far more than a technological prediction; it is a strategic roadmap urging us to protect the human essence in an increasingly digital world while asking a defining question: will technology shape our industry, or will we claim digital sovereignty and shape it ourselves?

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Collaborate with the Research Centre

Don’t leave the future to chance : Join us in shaping the 'Worker-Empowering' path. The future of AI in hospitality is not a predetermined path; it is a series of strategic choices. Do you want to prevent your organisation from becoming a ‘sleeping utility’ and instead invest in the ‘Human Premium’? We invite professionals and innovators to collaborate with our research centre in defining the roadmap to 2030.

Email RESEARCH@HOTELSCHOOL.NL

For the media

Need insight into the 'GenAI shock'? Our experts are ready to help. Are you looking for an in-depth analysis or a critical perspective on the 'AI Power Gap' within the hospitality sector? Our researchers, including Professor Alexander Lennart Schmidt, are available for interviews, background briefings, and in-depth commentary.

Please email: MC@HOTELSCHOOL.NL